B.
Bonne Fête!
Behind the scenes
Links between our collection and France are numerous and, for once, not in the least contrived.
Above for example is Stanley Palmer's response to a bit of French how's-your-father in Auckland in 1985.
But decades before that spot of unpleasantness, New Zealand artists had been making the trip to France, and particularly Brittany, to experience the artist's life. Here is a selection of their impressions.
![Olivia Spencer Bower Concarneau. Watercolour on paper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 1999. Reproduced courtesy of the trustees of the Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation](/media/cache/a7/3d/a73dd93bf70f10087352272ad3126643.jpg)
Olivia Spencer Bower Concarneau. Watercolour on paper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 1999. Reproduced courtesy of the trustees of the Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation
![Archibald Nicoll Sailing craft (Concarneau). Oil on board. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchasedby Mr Andrew Burns 1979](/media/cache/e6/76/e6769036ffa31a238ee4b0932bb05585.jpg)
Archibald Nicoll Sailing craft (Concarneau). Oil on board. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchasedby Mr Andrew Burns 1979
![Margaret Stoddart Camiers, France. Watercolour. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Christchurch Art Gallery Trust Collection](/media/cache/4d/5d/4d5dfd73370ce47ba2b8624c90bfc564.jpg)
Margaret Stoddart Camiers, France. Watercolour. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Christchurch Art Gallery Trust Collection
![Stanley Palmer J'accuse! Screenprint. Colleciton of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, gift of the artist](/media/cache/24/85/24850c2781f3dac4442441c6f628fcf7.jpg)
Stanley Palmer J'accuse! Screenprint. Colleciton of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, gift of the artist
![Sydney Lough Thompson Garden, La Glacière, Concarneau. Oil on canvas. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased with assistance from the Olive Stirrat Bequest 1987](/media/cache/15/c9/15c9b374c42ca2126d6d71c08bd2b748.jpg)
Sydney Lough Thompson Garden, La Glacière, Concarneau. Oil on canvas. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased with assistance from the Olive Stirrat Bequest 1987